The present invention relates generally to electronic shelf label (ESL) systems of the type commonly used in supermarkets and department stores for retail display. More particularly, the invention concerns an ESL, an ESL system constructed for real time inventory control and methods for their use.
Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) find use in merchandising establishments and warehouses to display pricing and other information and to manage inventory. For example, in a supermarket, ESLs might be mounted visibly on the shelves for different items as a replacement for conventional price labeling systems, utilizing electronic LED and/or LCD displays in which the price of an item is displayed for viewing by a consumer. As item prices change, the new prices can be displayed “instantaneously”. An advantage of such ESL systems is that pricing of hundreds or thousands of items throughout an environment can be managed by a server centrally rather than having paper price labels replaced or updated throughout the environment every time prices change. Additionally, other messages in addition to pricing data can be set by a central operator and displayed to a consumer.
Typically, ESLs in a system are clustered in groups, each group is serviced wirelessly by a respective base station, and the base stations are connected to an ESL server. A base station may, for example, communicate with the ESLs wirelessly. Through the use of ESL systems, a server can communicate electronically with an ESL label and update the data displayed on that label, including, but not limited to, the price. By permitting a central server and database system to perform all of the price and data maintenance and update functions for the ESL labels, a much more centrally controlled, reliable and consistent environment is created, when compared with prior conventional systems that require retail store clerks to visit the shelf and change paper labels.
Effective inventory control in a retail establishment involves far more than just keeping the product shelves stocked to meet customer demand. The stock room must contain sufficient reserve inventory to refill retail shelves during expected delays in new deliveries, but maintaining too much stock involves additional expense, unnecessary usage of space, and the risk that products may lose their freshness before they can be sold. Some products even have “sell by” dates. Another complication is that demand and restocking delay may be different for different products and may be variable over time and seasonally. When many thousands of products are involved the challenge becomes formidable. To meet the challenge, it is important to keep track of inventory in real time or near real time. Moreover, it must be done in such a reliable way that is not prone to employee errors and a convenient way so that employees would be prone to follow necessary procedures.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ESL, an ESL system and methods for their use that enable real time or near real time tracking of inventory in a retail environment and updating of its display.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ESL, an ESL system and methods for their use that are reliable and convenient in use, yet are relatively inexpensive to acquire, install and maintain.